If Only
by sunsetofdoom
Summary: Isabella thought it would last forever. But nothing really lasts forever, does it now?


Isabella didn't know what Phineas wanted to tell her. In fact, she had no idea why he had called her to the backyard at all; (he probably needed her help with one of his crazy projects) but she came anyway. She and Phineas had been dating ever since they had danced together during her bat mitzvah, three years ago now. It was mid-April of their sophomore year, and in Isabella's opinion, everything was going great. Ferb had, as soon as his sixteenth birthday hit, gotten an official job at Danville Mechanics (where he had been unofficially working since thirteen) to help pay for a car of his own, and when Phineas hit the milestone he was planning on applying at Danny's Music Shop. But for now, he spent his spare time with her- skating, swimming, hanging out, whatever they did, they had fun together.  
It was a sweet life, she thought, as she rolled to the Flynn-Fletcher's backyard on her scooter. As always.  
But as she pushed open the gate, Phineas gave her one nervous glance, and ushered Ferb quickly inside the back door before walking to her side.

"Konnichiwa, Isabella-san." That was odd; ever since he had started taking Japanese, he had simply called her 'Iza-chan', which was far less formal. Hearing the diminutive suffix after her nickname always gave her the warm fuzzies, but now she just felt wary. Still, she masked her apprehensiveness and answered cheerfully.  
"Konbanwa, Phineas-kun. O genki desu ka?"

In response, he just shifted awkwardly.

"What's wrong? Was my pronunciation off?" Isabella was concerned; he never failed to laugh at her pitiful attempts at Japanese,  
even under the worst of circumstances.

"No." Short and simple. She could have hit him, she was so nervous; why the hell was he being so damn evasive?! And he _still_ hadn't made eye contact.  
"Then what is it? What's wrong, Phineas? I'm your girlfriend, remember? You can talk to me about anything!"  
_  
"Idon'tthinkweshoulddateanymoreIzzy.."  
_  
Isabella was not exactly quick on the uptake; first, she had to figure out what he had actually said- and when she was pretty sure, she still couldn't believe it. "....... What?"

Phineas sighed: there went his chances of a clean break.  
"I just... don't think that we should date anymore. I just don't feel the same way about you as I did three years ago, Izzy;  
you gotta feel it too, right? I mean, we barely kiss, cause it feels so awkward now, and I just think the spark is gone, and..."  
She didn't hear the rest; it was drowned out by the screaming in her head. Numbly, she grasped at a thought floating through the haze,  
and spoke.  
"You're breaking up with me?" It sounded wrong, like the sentence should never have to come out of her mouth. She had been planning her and Phineas's lives together since she was in kindergarten; how could it ever end like this? How could it ever end _at all?_

Phineas didn't sound entirely concerned about her well-being when he gave his world-shattering answer of "Well, yes.", but it may have had something to do with the fact that she was hearing him from what felt like a thousand miles away...

No more laying in his arms at the beach. No more kissing under the mistletoe at Christmas. No more being picked up and spun in the air when one of their inventions went right. No more "Phineas and Isabella" or "Isabella and Phineas".  
No more sappy daydreams of their dream wedding in the south of France and honeymoon next to the Eiffel Tower.  
No more of anything, really; up until now, she really hadn't noticed just how much of her life revolved around Phineas, or even if she had, hadn't paid it much mind because "We're going to be together forever anyways, right?" but apparently, they weren't, not really.

She was dimly aware of Phineas retreating into the house; she heard the door shut, and, after a few seconds of weird silence,  
"Don't look at me with that tone of voice!"

Isabella slumped against the tree and slid to the ground; she knew her skirt was getting dirty and would most likely not be wearable from this moment on, but she couldn't quite muster up the strength to care, seeing as her world had just ended and all.

And by the same logic, she didn't look up when she heard the back door open; she knew someone was there, but she had to focus just to try to wrap her mind around the fact that what she had with Phineas was gone, done, over.

"Ysabel?"

She looked up; Isabella only knew one person who called her that. It was the same as Phineas calling her Iza-chan- taking her name, and converting it to their second language. She caught a glimpse of tousled green hair, deep brown eyes overflowing with sympathy...

And broke down into hysterical sobs.

To his credit, Ferb did not freak out; he simply knelt down on the muddy ground next to her, and just held her. For over ten minutes, she did nothing but cry onto the shoulder of his dirty, grease-stained T-shirt as he held her tight and didn't say a word. Which was just as effective, if not more, than Phineas's Let's-talk-it-out-and-make-a-plan type comfort.

When her sobbing had quieted to simple tears, he simply stated in a quiet undertone, "He didn't mean to hurt you."

Isabella sighed- she had _so_ wanted to be able to make Phineas the bad guy here. "I know."

"He's just very oblivious."

"I know."

Ferb chuckled slightly. "Sometimes I think that he woudn't notice if Candace came home with a broken leg."  
The chucke turned to a full-out laugh. "Well, except when you're trying to make him do his English essay- then he'll focus on anything but."

Isabella smiled brokenly-she knew that Phineas was easily distracted and extremely oblivious-she had always found these qualities endearing. But they had been the downfall of their relationship.

"Hey." Ferb's near-whisper drew her out of her reverie. "You know, _I'll_ always be here for you."

And that simple statement made her break down in tears once more.

Yes, she knew that Ferb would always be here for her-as much if not more than Phineas ever could, or would.

And it broke her heart.

* * *

**Hey, People Of Fanfiction! It's me, SunsetofDoom, with a new story! And yes, It's Ferbella- all you Phinbella fans, c'mon. Don't flame. Can't you let another ship float?**

**... Okay, bad pun. Don't kill me. Please. But anyways, this is a bit of a prologue to another story I'm writing, but it will be able to be read on its own. And it may be a little OOC, but they're sixteen. They will have changed. A little. No, no, put down the torches and pitchforks, seriously....  
Yah, soooooo.... REVIEW PLX!!! Feedback, and the OOC'ness will get better next time around.  
And on my other story, come on! Seven reviews, and over 100 visitors? I know you're there, I can see the whites of your eyes!**


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